A lesson on genre

So, what is my book about.? I have been getting many questions about that. Okay, no, I haven't, because no one really reads this blog yet. But I am going to tell you anyway! (Because when I become Published Author, you're gonna want to know what the hell was going on 'way back when')

First, a lesson on genre.

If you surf the net long enough at 2am, you eventually come across a lot of websites that feature naked women definitions of the various kinds of genres into which books are generally classified and stratified. Genre is different from category. You can get a decent accounting of the type of categories, by looking at amazon.com. Getting a decent account of genre is a little more difficult.


For instance, the Twilight saga is most commonly referred to as being in the genre of Paranormal Romance. Now go to Amazon and try to find that genre. It ain't there. Twilight comes up in no fewer than four different 'categories': fantasy, romance, horror and teens. The odd thing? It could actually be put in the same category as Urban Fantasy, which is the genre I am writing in. True, Urban Fantasy usually has a lot less romance involved with its action, but an argument could be made.

This is all a long-winded way of saying that even when I tell you that my book is an Urban Fantasy novel, it may or may not fit that label -- be it genre or category. Urban Fantasy is generally accepted to be using a contemporary enviornment (e.g. normal, every day life) and adding a layer of fantasy elements (e.g. faeries, wizards, magic, etc.) into the mix. Almost all of them involve the 'problem' of mixing the normal world with the magical/fantasy elements within the larger framework of the story.

You see why I started with a lesson? These things can be difficult to describe. So my book fits most closely into that genre, but without you actually reading it (someday!), it is difficult to describe. What I can do instead is point you towards some similar books. To that end, I have provided a list to a bunch of Published Authors who do this writing thing really, really well. They are people I would like to meet, pepper with questions and generally fawn over until I receive the restraining order.

So take this list as a little insight into what I am writing about and, perchance, as a recommendation for you to pick one of them up and give them a try. They are all well worth it.

Author, Title
Jim Butcher, Storm Front
Kim Harrison, Dead Witch Walking
Cherie Priest, Boneshaker (Note: Boneshaker is actually Steampunk, not Urban Fantasy, but very similar in style and structure...again, category vs genre vs labels)
Kevin Hearne, Hounded

One other note. Almost all Urban Fantasy books are serial in nature. This means that they usually have more than one book in the series, but they are not necessarily true sequels. You could, in theory, read them out of order and still enjoy each one. The above listed links are the first published book in each series for those authors.

Enjoy.